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Monthly Archives: July 2014

We are back in Kansas City for the summer and I have intently sniffed and remembered all of my favorite “spots” in the back yard. It is a pretty sweet deal being a dog who divides time between Florida weddings and Kansas City weddings.

However, one of my least favorite parts of it are the long drives between the two. I seem to get nervous and pant a lot in traffic (dad calls me Sir Pants A Lot, not really sure what that means but it sounds kind of majestic) so my parents have to give me drugs to calm me down. The drugs make me feel very strange and I can’t decide if I like that or not. Mom and dad often say I look “stoned”, again, not sure what that means but whatever dude! This last trip wasn’t too bad though because we decided to take a different route and spend one of our nights in a very cool historic fishing village. I love adventures!

The first day we drove to Apalachicola FL. The drive took us on non-interstate roads through the beautiful Apalachicola National Forest and along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The views were amazing and I even got to put my head out the window a lot. When we arrived we checked in to The Gibson Inn.

Dad In Front Of The Gibson Inn

The Gibson Inn is an example of what is called Florida “Cracker” Architecture. Now why they call it that is beyond me because it doesn’t look anything like a cracker. Dad says this was the style was used in the 19th and early 20th century in Florida. (I think that means it is very old, but why Cracker? why not milk bone or biscuit?.) These structures are characterized by metal roofs, raised floors, high ceilings, center hallways, and large wrap around porches. The tin roof has a widows walk and cupola. Built in 1907 , the Inn became known as a first class luxury hotel and was the only one between Pensacola and Jacksonville heated entirely by steam. Wow I think that is so cool! It is now listed on the National Historic Register of Historic Places.

There are some designated pet friendly rooms so I got to enjoy sitting next to Dad and Mom on the huge porch that wraps around the entire place on both the first and second floors. I don’t know who enjoyed it more. There were white wooden rocking chairs placed all along the porch and we had such a nice time sitting there watching the people go by. There were many new and amazing sights and smells for me and I spent my time trying to figure out each one.

Hanging Out On The Porch

The hotel would not let me into the very nice dining room (I’m sure I was paying for some other dog’s sins) so we walked to a cool place on Scipio Creek called Up The Creek. They are very nice and let your four legged family members come onto the porch and lay at your parents feet while they eat. The porch has a bar along the edges that Dad and Mom sat at and ate wonderful oysters and conch cakes.

Dad Loves Oysters

Dad seems to drool when he sees big fresh oysters, not sure why he does not get “the look” when he drools though. We sat right above the water and were able to watch oyster and shrimp boats going up and down the creek.

Outside The Restaurant’s Porch

It was very nice and plenty for me to see and sniff. Some other patrons gave me a real cracker. Dig that.

In the morning we left and drove thru Alabama to Memphis TN. It was also a pretty drive and we loved seeing new sights. The hotel we stayed at in Memphis was like the ones we usually stay in. It was a La Quinta so I slept in my usual spot in the bathtub.

My Favorite Place To Sleep

I love the La Quinta bathtubs. The weirdest part was that to get in the parking lot you had to have a code to get through a gate that had barbed wire on top of it. Dad said it was for safety purposes but COME ON, most of the rooms had dogs staying in them. What could be more safe? We ordered food to be delivered that night since there was no place we could walk to. I proudly barked to alert everyone that someone was at the door. Hey, there is no doorbell.

The last day we drove up through Arkansas and it was beautiful. There were miles and miles of winding roads through beautiful green forests. I liked that part a lot. We drove through Springfield and up through Clinton to Kansas City which is also a very nice drive. The lack of big semi trucks was the highlight for all of us.

I have to say that It felt good to pull into our condo parking lot. I was glad to get out of the car. I liked this trip the best so far and am hoping we go that way when we return to Florida in September. Or maybe we will take another adventure and find a different route. Dad say’s we might because that’s the way we roll.